44 thru 80, not necessarly in order

44. This is not the family blog and I can't resist. Maybe Teddy's stick wasn't all that big.

45. The first thing that attracts me to a man is his intelligence. I mean, what are you going to talk about between times if he’s dumb?

46. The second thing that attracts me to a man is his sense of humor.

47. I sometimes have a twisted sense of humor. My favorite online site for amusement is “A Softer World”.
48. My mother caught me in my bedroom with a boy, with the door locked, when I was 17 and decided to believe me when I said we were just listening to music.

49. I should have told her he was just explaining to me where babies came from because she never told me a thing!

50. I rarely curse and almost never use the f word except in moments of, well, never mind.

51. I don’t dance unless I’m drunk.

52. My Mother taught me that both dancing and drinking and cursing were sins, but was totally mute about sex.

53. I once climbed out of my bedroom window in my parent’s home to meet the boyfriend they had forbidden me to see.

54. I found the secret place my parents kept their condoms stored when I was 12, but had no idea what they were.

55. When I realized several years later what they were, I started checking to see how many they used.

56. Considering the hours they spent working, I wonder how they kept doing it seven or more times a week for that many years.

57. I started smoking in college because girls were not allowed to but boys were. I added it to a long list of things my parents never knew about me.

58. I stopped smoking before I got pregnant because I realized it was a stupid thing for both boys and girls.

59. Despite being surrounded by potential missionaries and preachers, I managed to find 6 hell raisers to hang out with at the Baptist college I attended.

60. We pooled all our resources and bought a 53 Buick for $45 at Big Ed’s Used Car Lot. The brakes were linked with a coat hanger and there was a metal tray we took from the drive in restaurant serving as a floor on the passenger side.

61. The hell raisers and I used the car to drive to the next county to buy beer, because it was illegal to sell were we lived.

62. I had my first taste of beer from a quart bottle that was being passed around that very car.

63. I threw it out the window thinking it was spoiled. The hell raisers were pissed (US definition, not British).

64. I found out later that it is an acquired taste, and set about acquiring it with a modest success.

65. Now I actually prefer red wine, or maybe a crisp dry white on a hot summer day.

66. My mother sent me off to college with my first checking account and no indication of how much money was in the bank or how much I could spend.

67. She acted shocked when I wrote checks without recording them and spent way over the secret number she had in her head.

68. I grew up in town of 2000 people, got out of there before I turned 18 and never had a desire to go back to live.

69. A few times.

70. My husband wants to retire to a small town, perhaps on some large piece of property in the middle of the woods.

71. I am grateful for the beautiful home I have, but I am so tired of the bland sameness of the people in suburbia. I ready to move back to the city.

72. I think we can afford two houses.

73. I adore getting flowers, as long as they look like they were enjoying themselves before they were picked. Spring wildflowers are my favorite.

74.My husband bought me long stemmed red roses for every occasion for 25 years even though I tried gently to tell him I hated them. My daughter finally got him to stop. After that he could never figure out what to buy me if she wasn’t around to tell him.

75. Even after all these years I wonder if he fell in love with me or some idea he had about who I was that has stuck in his mind unaltered for three decades.

76. I had no fear of heights until after my second marriage. On my honeymoon we climbed the Hatteras Lighthouse, and before I came to the top of the winding stairs I was clinging to the wall terrified. I made myself go out on the windswept overlook anyway, but could not stay because of the feeling of vertigo.

77. I made myself overcome that fear after many years, but I am still frightened on bridges at times, especially if other things in my life seem out of control.

78. My husband and I never argue. I have learned to follow the example he taught me. I agree with him then do what I want to do anyway.

80. I always though he was a wonderful dad but I am ashamed that I was blind to how much hurt his drinking did to them, as well as to me.